British and French postal services issue stamp honoring friendship
Britain and France are jointly releasing a set of postage stamps to mark the hundredth anniversary of the pact that ended centuries of hostility between the two nations, Royal Mail said.
The Royal Mail and the French Post Office, La Poste, will begin selling the stamps marking the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, two days ahead of the anniversary. The landmark treaty was signed in London on April 8, 1904.
The stamps feature artwork by Briton Terry Frost and French painter Sonia Delauney.
The release coincides with a three-day state visit to France by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, who will join in festivities honoring the anniversary starting Monday.
“The Entente Cordiale year is a great opportunity to share our experience, to understand each other better and to make the links between our countries even stronger,” said Denis MacShane, Britain’s Europe minister.
The agreement resolved a number of colonial disputes and helped to forge an Anglo-French alliance against a resurgent Germany.
But the friendship between the neighbors has often been prickly, and they disagreed bitterly over the war in Iraq.
